The very first step, and perhaps the hardest, is developing an unconditional friendship with oneself. Developing unconditional friendship means taking the very scary step of getting to know yourself. It means being willing to look at yourself very closely and to stay with yourself when you want to shut down. It means keeping your  heart open when you feel that what you see in yourself is just too embarrassing, too painful, too unpleasant, too hateful.

Pema Chodron